When reality gets too near for comfort
Fresh from Nike news vault: "Have a big butt, thunder thighs & tomboy knees? You are real."
Inspired by Dove's highly successful 'real women, real beauty, real brand' marketing compaign, youth-obsessed Nike who has made a tennis catwalk queen out of Serena Williams with glaring designer gear that sizzles and blings, decides to push the limits of convention and get real, for once.
Tennis Court-ure
Devilish in a denin mini and knee-length boots
Serena Williams' answer to Wimbledon's wear 'almost entirely white or risk disqualification' rule.Though Venus Williams is Reebok's tennis glamour queen, I simply got to feature the white corset-style tennis dress she co-designed with American designer, Diane von Furstenberg in 2003.
We all love fashion fresh from the runway but frankly, not many can carry off a Dior number with as much glam as Heidi Klum.
And Nike thinks I've a fabulous point here.
What Story Does Your Body Tell?
Big Butt
We all love fashion fresh from the runway but frankly, not many can carry off a Dior number with as much glam as Heidi Klum.
And Nike thinks I've a fabulous point here.
What Story Does Your Body Tell?
Big Butt
Thunder Thighs
Tomboy Knees
A breathtakingly glamourous, albeit, older woman.
The first thought that comes to mind when I saw this ad is "She looks really hip and charming!" "Boyish" never strike home. I was not far from the truth, this captivating Thai Dove model is the proud owner of a bar in Thailand.
You can't have it all in life. Look at Stefanie Sun.
The American Dove girl for "Flawed? Flawless?"
Tomboy KneesThe ads are undeniably punchy with an irresistable sense of defiance and individualism. It's just an inch away from oozing with coolness. The downside is the butt looks really toned and nice. Girls usually avoid running because of the possible trade-off of bigger, muscular thighs for flabby thighs. But it's such a shame to shun off running altogether because of that.
It's no surprise that atheletic women tend to have more developed muscles than the average woman. That however, doesn't make them less beautiful. There're varied definitions of beauty besides the prevailing universal beauty ideal (slim + youth = beauty) which is unreasonably narrow and rigid.
I'll rather have larger, healthy women than bone-skinny, anorexic girls. At least I know the former will have a happier and longer life-span. In the USA, 25 million women and 1 million men are fighting a life-and-death battle with eating disorders - an unnessary ordeal that can be avoided if the media giants are more realistic and socially responsible.
"My butt is big, so's my mother's butt, my grandmother's butt, and my grandmother's mother's butt. It's in the genes. So I joined a gym, and my butt got really toned. From what I understand it is secretly worshipped by the girls who hang around the butt machine..." Just do it. While it's unclear whether this 'real woman' wave marks a shift in societal mindset or a mere clever marketing fab, expect more big companies to jump on the bandwagon.
However, I have deep reservations about Dove's latest "Campaign for Real Beauty" stunt. The 'real' women they chose look explicitly freckled but undeniably cute, greying but looking incredible for her age, flat-chested but very, very attractive - in short, these women are not representative of the lesser-blessed female population! I'll bite my own toe if these 'real women' did not have a glamour treatment. Besides it's hopelessly ironic that Dove is telling women that they should revel in their own natural beauty and selling thigh-firming creams and anti-ageing solutions at the same time. Under the superfluous, clever taglines, the ultimate message is all but "Buy Dove to redeem your natural beauty".
Campaign for Real Beauty
The billboard ad that got us staring. Real women have real curves.
It's no surprise that atheletic women tend to have more developed muscles than the average woman. That however, doesn't make them less beautiful. There're varied definitions of beauty besides the prevailing universal beauty ideal (slim + youth = beauty) which is unreasonably narrow and rigid.
I'll rather have larger, healthy women than bone-skinny, anorexic girls. At least I know the former will have a happier and longer life-span. In the USA, 25 million women and 1 million men are fighting a life-and-death battle with eating disorders - an unnessary ordeal that can be avoided if the media giants are more realistic and socially responsible.
"My butt is big, so's my mother's butt, my grandmother's butt, and my grandmother's mother's butt. It's in the genes. So I joined a gym, and my butt got really toned. From what I understand it is secretly worshipped by the girls who hang around the butt machine..." Just do it. While it's unclear whether this 'real woman' wave marks a shift in societal mindset or a mere clever marketing fab, expect more big companies to jump on the bandwagon.
However, I have deep reservations about Dove's latest "Campaign for Real Beauty" stunt. The 'real' women they chose look explicitly freckled but undeniably cute, greying but looking incredible for her age, flat-chested but very, very attractive - in short, these women are not representative of the lesser-blessed female population! I'll bite my own toe if these 'real women' did not have a glamour treatment. Besides it's hopelessly ironic that Dove is telling women that they should revel in their own natural beauty and selling thigh-firming creams and anti-ageing solutions at the same time. Under the superfluous, clever taglines, the ultimate message is all but "Buy Dove to redeem your natural beauty".
Campaign for Real Beauty
The billboard ad that got us staring. Real women have real curves. 
A breathtakingly glamourous, albeit, older woman.
The first thought that comes to mind when I saw this ad is "She looks really hip and charming!" "Boyish" never strike home. I was not far from the truth, this captivating Thai Dove model is the proud owner of a bar in Thailand.
You can't have it all in life. Look at Stefanie Sun.
The American Dove girl for "Flawed? Flawless?"Though I don't buy Dove's 'real beauty' campaign wholeheartedly, it's nonetheless a positive cultural shift in societal perception. However, a person whether fat or slim, pretty or ugly, clever or dull, rich or impoverished, have a right to aspire. Many of us are guilty of declaring "We hate those unjustified photoshopped ads", "What's XX thinking of when they get 20-year-old girls peddling anti-wrinkle cream to us?!" But look at what we spend on and how much goes into these "unjustified" expenditure.
I don't like Gisele Bundchen but I want to be like her. I don't like Amber Chia but it won't hurt to have a body as streamlined as hers. Subconsciously, these conflicting thoughts trade blows inside our 'black box'. We are inherently irrational. We make impulsive and emotional purchases. Reality ads assuage our grievances with its honesty but does it leave enough freedom for us to dream?
Try to recall the sweet pleasure and the drive of powerful motivation we grow up with, dreaming of the imaginary Tiffany or the sexy Porsche. How would life have been if people told you otherwise? Stop dreaming and accept the takings from the dinner table, be it a Taka imported-from-China diamond ring or a Honda.
Personally, I would feel deprived from my rights as a person to aspire.
Every seller in the market sells a dream. Singapore Pools with their 3 million jackpot for the one-in-a-zillionth lucky chap. Osim promises a Fiona Seah abdomen with uZap. Universities try to outdo each other with claims of more superior education and state-of-the-art facilities. Pharmaceutical companies bombard us with increasingly complex and seemingly more powerful health supplements under the tag of "Our health supplements can give you extra protection and let you live happier and longer with your loved ones."
I don't like Gisele Bundchen but I want to be like her. I don't like Amber Chia but it won't hurt to have a body as streamlined as hers. Subconsciously, these conflicting thoughts trade blows inside our 'black box'. We are inherently irrational. We make impulsive and emotional purchases. Reality ads assuage our grievances with its honesty but does it leave enough freedom for us to dream?
Try to recall the sweet pleasure and the drive of powerful motivation we grow up with, dreaming of the imaginary Tiffany or the sexy Porsche. How would life have been if people told you otherwise? Stop dreaming and accept the takings from the dinner table, be it a Taka imported-from-China diamond ring or a Honda.
Personally, I would feel deprived from my rights as a person to aspire.
Every seller in the market sells a dream. Singapore Pools with their 3 million jackpot for the one-in-a-zillionth lucky chap. Osim promises a Fiona Seah abdomen with uZap. Universities try to outdo each other with claims of more superior education and state-of-the-art facilities. Pharmaceutical companies bombard us with increasingly complex and seemingly more powerful health supplements under the tag of "Our health supplements can give you extra protection and let you live happier and longer with your loved ones."
"People are living lives of desperation; they don't want to be themselves." - Gerald CelentePictures courtesy of nikewomen.com, style.com, USAToday.com, campaignforrealbeauty.com
posted by Michelle at
12:45 AM
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